A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is an extension of an enterprise's private intranet across a public network such as the Internet, creating a secure private connection, essentially through a private "tunnel". VPNs securely convey information across the Internet, connecting remote users, branch offices, and business partners/suppliers into an extended corporate network. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) offer cost-effective access to the Internet (via direct lines or local telephone numbers), enabling companies to eliminate their current, expensive leased lines, long-distance calls and toll-free telephone numbers. A 1997 VPN research report, by Infonetics Research Inc., estimates savings from 20 per cent to 47 per cent of Wide Area Network (WAN) costs by replacing leased lines to remote sites with VPNs. And, for remote access VPNs, savings can be 60 per cent to 80 per cent of corporate remote access dial-up costs. Additionally, Internet access is available worldwide where other connectivity alternatives may not be available.

The technology to implement these virtual private networks, however, is just becoming standardised. Some networking vendors today are offering non-standards-based VPN solutions that make it difficult for a company to incorporate all its employees and/or business partners/suppliers into an extended corporate network. However, VPN solutions based on Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) standards will provide support for the full range of VPN scenarios, with more interoperability and expansion capabilities.

The key to maximising the value of a VPN is the ability for companies to evolve their VPNs as their business needs change and to easily upgrade to future TCP/IP technology. Vendors who support a broad range of hardware and software VPN products provide the flexibility to meet these requirements. VPN solutions today run mainly in the IPv4 environment, but it is important that they have the capability of being upgraded to IPv6 to remain interoperable with your business partner's and/or supplier's VPN solutions. Perhaps equally critical is the ability to work with a vendor who understands the issues of deploying a VPN. The implementation of a successful VPN involves more than technology. The vendor's networking experience plays heavily into this equation.

Through the implementation of IBM eNetwork VPN solutions, customers can extend the reach of their intranet, securely and cost-effectively. Companies need to communicate among their geographically dispersed locations, manufacturers and their suppliers need access to shared databases, and remote users need to reach applications and servers in their corporate intranet. IBM eNetwork VPN solutions support all of these scenarios, and many others, just as securely as if they were being run over dedicated private lines.

IBM recognises that individual companies require different levels of security strength and administrative control. Our VPN solutions can be customised to be as secure or as flexible as required. The key is that IBM will offer eNetwork VPN solutions to meet the needs of your company ( today and tomorrow ( and will offer all the products and services that you will need to design and deploy a VPN solution appropriate for the needs of your business.

Security

IBM uses IPSec, an open, IETF-standard security technology, as an integral element in our eNetwork VPN solutions. IPSec provides cryptography-based protection of all data at the IP layer of the communications stack. It provides secure communications transparently, with no changes required to existing applications. IPSec is the IETF-chosen, industry-standard network security framework for use in both the IPv4 and IPv6 environments. It is also currently the technology of choice for more than a dozen networking vendors, such as Sun, Attachmate and Bay Networks.

Authentication: The process by which the identity of a host or end point is verified

Integrity checking: The process of ensuring that no modifications were made to the data while in-transit across the network

Encryption: The process of "hiding" information while in-transit across the network in order to ensure privacy

In addition, as described below, IPSec can address the security requirements of all key VPN business scenarios and provides a growth path covering VPN expansion and security requirement changes. In 1997, the IETF Security Working Group completed the initial work on IPSec extensions that provide automated Internet Security Association and Key Management Protocol (ISAKMP) capabilities combined with a key distribution protocol (Oakley). This solution includes both a mechanism for negotiating Security Associations to achieve the degree of protection you need (enabling automated tunnel setup) and a mechanism for automated secure distribution and refresh of strong cryptographic keys. By supporting IPSec with ISAKMP/Oakley, IBM eNetwork VPN offerings will minimise manual configuration and thus provide a more robust, user-friendly, maintenance-free solution.

At the April 1998 IETF meeting, the IPSec Working Group agreed to advance all of the base IPSec documents to "proposed standards". Having completed work on the base IPSec functions (authentication, encryption, integrity, key management and security association management), the IPSec working group will now turn its attention to developing new protocols to complement the base set. For example, it will consider ease-of-use issues such as VPN Policy databases, extended authentication methods for use with ISAKMP/Oakley, and interoperability across several Certificate Authorities.

IPSec can also be used in conjunction with security protocols that may already exist in other layers of the communications stack. Today, IBM supports the Secure Electronic Transaction protocol (SET), Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), and a variety of other security technologies that can be incorporated into your IPSec-based VPN solution. Object-layer security such as SET can be used to secure electronic payment transactions over the Internet, and SSL technology can be used to secure your specific applications. However, independent of whether any application-level security such as SSL has been implemented, IPSec can provide an authenticated and encrypted tunnel that protects all your IP traffic.

IPSec can also provide robust security in conjunction with other tunnelling protocols, such as the Layer 2 Tunnelling Protocol (L2TP) used in remote access dial-up configurations. L2TP, which is also an IETF standard, has the capability of establishing dial-up connections from clients using the PPP. In addition, L2TP can be used to carry multiprotocol traffic, such as NetBIOS. But, L2TP lacks strong security properties. Thus, the March 1998 IETF draft titled "Securing L2TP using IPSEC" discusses how L2TP can utilise IPSec to provide for tunnel authentication, privacy protection, integrity checking and replay protection. When IPSec is used in conjunction with L2TP, cryptographically strong access control is provided. IPSec will provide authentication, integrity checking, and encryption for each packet transmitted. It also provides automated key management functions and can protect data all the way to the target server. IBM eNetwork VPN offerings are designed to allow companies to easily construct solutions that meet their business needs. We will look at three business scenarios well suited to the implementation of a VPN solution:

Business partner/supplier network

Branch office connection network

Remote access network

Business partner/supplier network

Industry-leading companies will be those that can communicate inexpensively and securely to their business partners, subsidiaries and vendors. Many companies have chosen to implement frame relay and/or purchase leased lines to achieve this interaction. But this is often expensive, and geographic reach may be limited. VPN technology offers an alternative for companies to build a private and cost-effective extended corporate network with worldwide coverage, exploiting the Internet or other public network.

Suppose you are a major parts supplier to a manufacturer. Since it is critical that you have the specific parts and quantities at the exact time required by the manufacturing firm, you always need to be aware of the manufacturer's inventory status and production schedules. Perhaps, you are handling this interaction manually today, and have found it to be time consuming, expensive, and maybe even inaccurate. You'd like to find an easier, faster and more effective way of communicating. However, given the confidentiality and time-sensitive nature of this information, the manufacturer does not want to publish this data on their corporate web page or distribute this information monthly via an external report.

To solve these problems, the parts supplier and manufacturer can implement an eNetwork VPN. A VPN can be built between a client workstation, in the parts supplier's intranet, directly to the server residing in the manufacturer's intranet. The clients can authenticate themselves either to the firewall protecting the manufacturer's intranet, directly to the manufacturer's server (validating that "they are who they say they are"), or to both, depending on your security policy. Then, a tunnel could be established, encrypting all data packets from the client, through the Internet, to the required server.

With the establishment of this VPN, the parts supplier can have global, online access to the manufacturer's inventory plans and production schedule at all times during the day or night, minimising manual errors and eliminating the need for additional resources for this communication. In addition, the manufacturer can be assured that the data is securely and readily available to only the intended parts supplier(s).

One way to implement this scenario is for the companies to purchase Internet access from an ISP, such as IBM Global Services. Then, given the lack of security of the Internet, either an IPSec-enabled IBM firewall or an IBM server with firewall functionality can be deployed as required to protect the intranets from intruders. If end-to-end protection is desired, then both the client and server machines need to be IPSec-enabled as well.

Through the implementation of this VPN technology, the manufacturer would easily be able to extend the reach of their existing corporate intranet to include one or more parts suppliers, essentially building an extended corporate network, while enjoying the cost-effective benefits of using the Internet as their backbone. And, with the flexibility of open IPSec technology, the ability for this manufacturer to incorporate more external suppliers is limitless.

Yet, inherent in network expansion are concerns of manageability. Tools should be implemented to ensure your network remains easy to maintain. Management functions to be included in eNetwork VPN solutions are: policy management, automated ISAKMP/Oakley key management capabilities, certificate management, secure Domain Name Server (DNS) and Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) support. When implementing a VPN, a set of security configuration criteria must be established. Decisions over which security algorithms are to be used by each IPSec-enabled box and when the keys are to be refreshed, are all aspects of policy management. And, with respect to "key" technology, almost all of today's currently popular security protocols begin by using public key cryptography. Each user is assigned a unique public key. Certificates, in the form of digital signatures, validate the authenticity of your identity and your encryption key. These certificates can be stored in a public key database, such as a secure domain name server (secure DNS), that can be accessible via a simple protocol, such as the lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP).

An automated IP address management system is especially important for VPNs in order to assign and manage your network's IP addresses. Thus, on 16th March 1998, IBM and Quadritek Systems, Inc. ( a market-leading IP address management company ( announced an agreement to advance total product solutions for centralised, enterprise-scaleable IP name and address management. Together, IBM and Quadritek will offer highly centralised control of all network devices in your entire extended intranet. Also, along the lines of managing your IP addresses, network address translation (NAT), available today in IBM AIX Firewall, allows you to use a globally unique (public) address on the Internet, while enabling you to use private IP addresses within your intranet.

IBM will be incorporating all of these VPN management tools into our eNetwork VPN solutions, which can easily be implemented to meet the needs of your existing and future networking environment. Consultations with IBM networking and security experts will help you establish the VPN solution that best meets the needs of your company.

Branch office connection network

The branch office scenario, unlike the business partner/supplier network scenario, securely connects two trusted intranets within your organisation. This is a key difference, since your security focus is on both protecting your company's intranet against external intruders and securing your company's data while it flows over the public Internet. This differs from the business partner/supplier network, where the focus is on enabling your business partners/suppliers access to data in your corporate intranet.

For example, suppose a corporate headquarters wants to minimise the costs incurred from communicating to and among its own branches. Today, the company may use frame relay and/or leased lines, but wants to explore other options for transmitting their internal confidential data that will be less expensive, more secure, and globally accessible. By exploiting the Internet, branch office connection VPNs can easily be established to meet the company's needs.

One way to implement this VPN connection between the corporate headquarters and one of its branch offices is for the company to purchase Internet access from an ISP. IBM eNetwork firewalls, or routers with integrated firewall functionality, would be placed at the boundary of each of the intranets to protect the corporate traffic from Internet hackers. With this scenario, the clients and servers need not support IPSec technology, since the IPSec-enabled firewalls (or routers) would be providing the necessary data packet authentication and encryption. With this approach, the inventory and pricing information would be hidden from untrusted Internet users, with the firewall denying access to potential attackers. And, as previously described in the VPN business partner/supplier network scenario, eNetwork VPN management functions can also be used to manage your VPN branch office connection network.

With the establishment of branch office connection VPNs, the company's corporate headquarters will be able to communicate securely and cost-effectively to its branches, whether positioned locally or miles away. Through VPN technology, each branch can also extend the reach of its existing intranet to incorporate the other branch intranets, building an extended, enterprise-wide corporate network. And, as in the business partner/supplier network scenario, this company can easily expand this newly created environment to include its business partners, suppliers, and remote users ( through the use of open IPSec technology.

Remote access network

A remote user, whether at home or on the road, wants to be able to communicate securely and cost-effectively back to his/her corporate intranet. Although many still use expensive long-distance and toll-free telephone numbers, this cost can be greatly minimised by exploiting the Internet. For example, you're at home or on the road, but need a confidential file on a server within your intranet. By obtaining Internet access in the form of a dial-in connection to an ISP, you can communicate with the server in your intranet and access the required file.

One way to implement this scenario is to use an eNetwork VPN IPSec-enabled remote client and firewall. The client accesses the Internet via dial-up to an ISP, and then establishes an authenticated and encrypted tunnel between itself and the firewall at the intranet boundary. By applying IPSec authentication between the remote client and the firewall, you can protect your intranet from unwanted and possibly malicious IP packets. And by encrypting traffic that flows between the remote host and the firewall, you can prevent outsiders from eavesdropping on your information.

Summary

IBM eNetwork VPN solutions provide capabilities that can link your IT assets with web technology to build secure e-business solutions. With the implementation of an IBM eNetwork VPN solution, you can cost-effectively extend the reach of your network, your applications and your data. You can easily incorporate your business partners and suppliers, your remote branch offices and your remote users ( enabling improved communication and enhanced business processes. You can reduce business expenses both by exploiting the Internet or other public networks, instead of expensive private leased lines, dial-up lines, or toll-free telephone numbers, and by using IBM VPN management capabilities to minimise your VPN maintenance costs.

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